


A Faerie's Pining Heart

by Invincible_Voldemort



Category: Maleficent (Disney Movies), Sleeping Beauty - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Character Death, Disney, Eventual Romance, F/M, Movie: Maleficent (2014), Post-Maleficent (2014), Romance, Tragedy, Tragic Romance, maleval
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:46:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23823292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Invincible_Voldemort/pseuds/Invincible_Voldemort
Summary: "Why now?" she asked as her voice rasped from disuse. "Why return now after all these months, years…?" Diaval felt his face twist in sorrow at seeing what his love had been reduced to. Yes, his love. He had wanted to tell her the day he had left, but she seemed unwilling to listen. And now, her plight was beyond what he himself had felt those days long gone. Maleval one-shot.
Relationships: Diaval & Maleficent (Disney), Diaval/Maleficent (Disney)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	A Faerie's Pining Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on July 1st, 2014.

Maleficent watched as her faithful raven hugged Aurora once, wishing the girl a happy married life with Prince Phillip. He whispered a few choice words in her ear which Maleficent couldn't hear. He then turned to the Prince and repeated the gesture with words of encouragement and his blessings, even offering a small threat lest he treat Aurora poorly. The Prince simply smiles and proclaims that he would never dare hurt the girl for she is his life.

Diaval returned to his former position near his mistress, unsure of how to address the woman he had spent more than half a lifetime with.

"Mistress, I—" he began, only to be cut off by Maleficent.

She smiled wanly, disappointed that her companion of years will be leaving, "Diaval, I am no longer your mistress. You have repaid your debt time and time again, and we are but equal. Call me Maleficent."

"M-Maleficent..." he stuttered as he tested out the name for the first time on his tongue. Maleficent liked the way the name rolled off his sweet lips. But then she paused. Sweet lips? This was Diaval. A trusted friend. Nothing more.

"Go. Explore the world. Settle down, but keep in contact for you shall always be welcome back to the Moors." She noted the quavering of his lips as though he had wanted to say something, but he simply shook his head sadly. He knew it was no use telling her now. It was too late.

"You're a good woman, Maleficent." And with a knowing look in his eyes, he took off, turning back into a raven.

Maleficent felt her heart weighing her down as she experienced a long lost feeling to her. Loss. She had felt it once with Stefan, yet, here it had returned once more and taking her by surprise. She tried to ignore it, but it had the effect of iron her skin. A burning sensation in her heart.

As she flew back home after the marriage, she began remembering images that flashed briefly before her eyes. The day they had first met when he had been captured under a net, treated cruelly by the human.

How he had always stayed by her side, never refusing a single command. The two had raised Aurora from a distance, further cementing the bond. But yet, she knew nothing else about Diaval. He had kept to himself. She didn't know if he had even had a family to go back to. She groaned in frustration. She had known him twenty years, but had she really known him at all?

She didn't want to admit it, not after the Stefan incident, but she loved Diaval. She hadn't known it. But she loved him, and now he had returned to live his life as he was supposed to. Find a mate, raise a family while she was alone.

That's when she knew she could no longer stay. She had abdicated the Moors to Aurora, deciding she needed to go far away. Away from the memories that kept them tied. And without a second thought, she left, only informing Aurora of her whereabouts.

She found a small alcove miles and miles away from the kingdom to start her life anew. Her own little Moors of sorts, it reminded her of the good days of her childhood. She struck up friends with those creatures around her, but none proved to provide the same companionship as Diaval and Aurora had.

Months passed but time did little to heal her broken heart. If anything, the pain became more and more unbearable, excruciating at some points as she missed his companionship, someone to talk to. He had stood by her side for a score of years, and yet she had never realized his importance.

Days, she would pine away, hoping that he would come back and regretting having ever given him permission to leave. The seasons went by faster and faster, but there were no signs of his return.

Faeries were not meant to get sick, and despite Maleficent's previous misgivings, love held a capacity that other ailments didn't hold. A faerie's downfall was in their infinite capacity to love. The sickness continued to eat away at her heart as she grew more secluded, shutting herself from within.

Soon, it did more than tearing apart her heart as it spread to other parts of the body. She had become pale and sickly with her face gaunt and sticking to her bones. Her wings dropped unable to fly in the weight from the burden of her heart. She began to slowly lose control of the reality that had held her for years, unable to distinguish the inane from the necessity.

Most days found her just sitting, leaning against a tree as her glassy eyes looked at the sky without seeing, hoping he would come back.

But soon, that too lost interest as she found herself unable to do even that. She knew she was dying. On her deathbed as humans would say. What had sustained a faerie was love, and with love nowhere to be found, she was dying slowly and painfully as though revenge for what she had done years earlier.

One such night, a shadow passed overhead, but hear eyes now nearly blind could no longer make out the shape of the creature. She could see that it was approaching her, circling around her like she was prey. It swooped dangerously close to her and disappeared into the woods.

Moments later, she heard footsteps approaching from behind. She didn't have the strength to turn back and greet her guest.

A quiet voice spoke up, "It hurts me to see you this way, knowing what you once were. Your ailment has rid you of even recognition of me." The voice caught at the end, as if choking back a tear. The tone was dreary and helpless, but she recognized it instantly.

"Why now?" she asked as her voice rasped from disuse. "Why return now after all these months, years…?" Diaval felt his face twist in sorrow at seeing what his love had been reduced to. Yes, his love. He had wanted to tell her the day he had left, but she seemed unwilling to listen. And now, her plight was beyond what he himself had felt those days long gone.

"I—I…" he couldn't bring himself to answer. He had been afraid of facing rejection and still was. This isn't how he wanted to be remembered. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "I should have never left. I never realized what we had was deeper than what it appeared to be. You weren't just my mistress, but you were more than that. I was in love…"

She shushed him, moving her feeble hand to his lips, "It's alright now. You're here."

He smiled, the pain evident in his eyes as he leaned down, holding her hand firmly in his own strong ones. "Never again," his lips whispered over her own as he kissed her, the emotion of the lost years pouring in with that single touch.

"I love you," she replied. Maleficent shuddered before letting her body free.

A true love's kiss.

Diaval held her until she took her last breath.

He was here, with her. But she was gone.


End file.
